While the last chapter in the 'Guardians' trilogy remains victorious in its second weekend, Robert Rodriguez's new sci-fi action-thriller scores the worst wide opening in Affleck's career.
- May 15, 2023
AceShowbiz - "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" heroically holds on to its top spot at the North American box office. The latest Marvel superhero movie remains victorious in its second weekend with an estimated $60.5 million.
The last chapter in the "Guardians" trilogy only suffered a mere 49 percent decline from its opening weekend, marking the best second-weekend hold of any sequel in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and one of the best among MCU titles.
By comparison, recent Marvel movies such as "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania", "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" and "Thor: Love and Thunder" declined by nearly 70% in their sophomore outings. "GOTG 3" was previously compared to "Ant-Man 3" for performing only slightly better than its fellow threequel, which took in $106 million in its first weekend last February, by opening to $118.4 million in the first week of summer.
The Chris Pratt-starring movie has since managed to cross the $200 million mark domestically to finish Sunday, May 14 with a cume of $213.2 million. It brings its worldwide revenue to $528.8 million after accounting its international ticket sales, which has reached a total of $315.6 million so far.
"The second weekend in May is very notable, traditionally speaking, because it bridges the gap between a big summer kickoff movie ('Guardians 3') and the next big blockbuster ('Fast X')," says Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. "Everyone in the business knew 'Guardians' would dominate the weekend but it provided an opportunity for a lot of movies to get out there that hit that sweet spot between two behemoths."
The second place still belongs to "The Super Mario Bros. Movie", which added an estimated $13 million in its sixth weekend. Newcomer "Book Club: The Next Chapter" opens to a disappointing $6.5 million from 3,500 theaters domestically. The sequel to 2018's "Book Club", starring Jane Fonda and Diane Keaton among others, is the only new release that manages to break into the top five, despite earning less than half of its predecessor.
"Evil Dead Rise" follows at the fourth place with approximately $3.7 million, while "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret." also drops one place to No. 5 with an estimated $2.5 million. New release "Hypnotic" trails behind at No. 6 with an estimated $2.4 million.
The sci-fi action thriller failed miserably both commercially and critically. Made on a reported budget of $65 million, the Robert Rodriguez-directed movie scores the worst wide opening in Ben Affleck's career as it was also widely panned by critics. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore seemed to agree, giving the film an average grade of C+ on an A+ to F scale.
Top 10 of North America Box Office (May. 12-14, 2023):
- "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" - $60.5 million
- "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" - $13 million
- "Book Club: The Next Chapter" - $6.5 million
- "Evil Dead Rise" - $3.7 million
- "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret." - $2.5 million
- "Hypnotic" - $2.4 million
- "John Wick: Chapter 4" - $1.9 million
- "Love Again" - $1.6 million
- "Air" - $768,000
- "Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves" - $741,000
